Danny Phamlet
by Rubyclaw
Summary: The characters of Danny Phantom star in Shakespeare's Hamlet! Jack Fenton's ghost returns from the ghost zone to tell his son, Prince Danny, to avenge his death by killing Vlad Masters, the evil half-ghost who married Maddie and now rules Denmark. Meanwhile, Mr. Lancer stirs up trouble at Denmark's borders...
1. Act I, scene 1

A band geek was standing guard alone outside the Danish castle. The dark night was quiet, but nervous, and the small teenager jumped at every sound. Suddenly, he heard footsteps approaching.

"Halt! Who goes there?" he cried, frightened, in his high, nasal voice. And then: "Joe? Is that you?"

"It's me Bob," A voice from the darkness replied. The other band geek who owned it stepped out of the shadows.

"Did you get Tucker to come with you?"

"Yeah, I'm here," Tucker answered, revealing himself, "but I still don't believe you."

"Aw, come on, Tuck," Joe insisted. "We've seen it like, three times!"

"Yeah, King Fenton's ghost!" Bob reiterated.

"Please. Take it from an expert: there's got to be more to becoming a ghost than just dying."

"But we saw it! Tell 'im again, Bob."

"Ok, so the last three nights in a row, when me and Joe are standing guard over the castle, every night when the clock strikes one –" Bob silenced himself as the clock boomed once, seeing the specter rise again behind tucker's disbelieving form. Fear was like a gag on the band geeks' mouths, and yet still Tucker had no idea. Then he heard a voice speak quietly in his ear: "Boo." Tucker jumped and turned around as the two geeks screamed and ran out of sight. Tucker reached for his PDA to page Danny when he realized something: the ghost looked like Danny's father. A _lot_ like Danny's father.

"K-King Fenton?!" Tucker exclaimed in disbelief.

"Now, now, Tucker," the ghost answered. "How many times have I told you: call me Jack!" He seemed pretty upbeat for a man who had just died; but then again, that was just Jack Fenton.

"O-Of course, Jack. So... How's it like being dead?"

"It's terrible," Jack lamented. "I can't sleep, I can't eat, Maddie'll shoot me on sight, and every morning when the cock crows it's back to the ghost zone or that creep Walker'll lock me up in ghost prison."

"That sounds awful. Anything I can do to help you with that?"

"I don't think so, unless you can bring back the dead!" the ghost chuckled. "Although, tell you what, I'd sure like to see my boy Danny again. Think you could bring him down here to meet me?"

"Uh, sure, Mr. Fenton."

"That's Jack, Tuck. I'll tell you what stinks though: the way I died. You see –" Just then the cock crowed, and Jack interrupted himself. "Whoops, gotta go!" the ghost exclaimed as he flew through the portal into the ghost zone. The sun began to rise, and the two band geeks slowly returned to their original position.

"Is he gone?" Bob asked.

"Yeah."

"So do ya believe us?"

"Yeah." There was a shocked silence. "We have to tell Danny about this."

"The prince?"

"Well it's his father! Besides, something fishy's going on and I'd like to know what."


	2. Act I, scene 2

The newly crowned king of Denmark, Vlad Masters, stood alongside his new Queen in a hall of his mansion addressing the gathered crowd as the prince, Danny Fenton, sulked in a corner nearby. "Though I am torn," he began, "as we are all torn, by the late King Fenton's death, and mourn him greatly, as we all mourn him greatly, it was necessary for us all to not only remember his life, but also to think of our own. Therefore I, being the late king's brother, decided that it was in our best interest to marry the good Queen Madeline and thus continue my dear brother's rule. I thank you all for your support in our decision." The audience politely clapped. "Now, as you all know, a certain Mr. Lancer of Norway has been causing trouble at our borders, demanded the lands that his father had lost to our most dear brother – so much for him. Perhaps Mr. Lancer supposes that we are all to stricken with grief to crush his small toy army. However, my people be assured: Vlad Masters is no fool. This letter to his Superintendent ought to set him straight rather quickly." Vlad handed the letter to a messenger, who bowed and left the room. "So then, to Valerie. There was something you wanted to ask me, wasn't there?"

"Well... I... uh..." Valerie stuttered in reply.

"Now now, Valerie, there's nothing to fear from me. Your father, Damon, is instrumental to my rule over this country. Speak up, child."

"Well, I would like your leave to return to France. I returned to Denmark to show my duty in your coronation, but... Ya gotta admit, it's a beautiful country. I would love to go back there again."

"And what does your father say about this?"

"Sir, she has begged me and begged me and begged me to go; I had to say yes to save my sanity. I do think you ought to let her go sir, if it's no trouble."

"Very well then; you have my leave Valerie." Valerie nodded, containing her excitement. "And now, Danny, my son –"

"What do you want?" the grouchy prince snapped.

"Still dark with grief, I see."

"There's a little too much light in the world. So I'll be dark."

"Now, now, Danny," his mother chided. "You knew it would have had to happen eventually. All that lives must die."

"Yeah."

"Then why do you seem so upset about it?"

"_Seem?_ I don't _seem_ upset. I _am_ upset. I am disturbed straight through to the core of my blackened soul."

"Danny, Danny, Danny," Vlad answered the prince. "How sweet of you to be so mournful of your father. If you were a six-year-old girl, I might feel bad for you. However, you are not. You are a boy, almost a man, of fourteen years. Grow up and get over it. I'm no longer paying for anyone to change your diaper. Forget about Jack Fenton; I am your father now, and I love you as if you were my own son, and you might as well be, because you are indeed the heir to my throne. Now, your mother tells me you wish to return to school in Wittenberg. I won't let you. With your emotional state, you need to be around your family who loves you dearly."

"You'll stay here for me, now, won't you Danny?" Maddie implored her son. Danny sighed.

"Yes mother."

"There, isn't that wonderful news darling?" Vlad spoke to maddie cheerfully. "Let's go celebrate it!" He and his queen left, as did everyone else. The hall was deserted except for Danny, who sat down at a table and slammed his head down on it as hard as he could.

"I hate life," he proclaimed to no one. His mother and Vlad had married within a month of his father's death. What was worse, everyone else seemed to be completely ok with it. Now "Uncle Vlad" was trying to be Danny's new father, and he wasn't even really Jack's brother!

A void interrupted the prince's thoughts: "Prince Daniel!"

"Go away," Danny replied, looking up to see who it was. "Wait – Tucker?! I thought you were supposed to be in Wittenberg at a tech convention!"

"Skipped it," Tucker replied. "Just to come and see you." Danny laughed.

"No, but really!"

"Oh... I came to see the funeral."

"You mean the wedding?" All of Danny's inner bitterness manifested itself in this line.

"They were awfully close together..."

"Convenience, you see. That way, the leftovers from the funeral dinner can be served at the wedding feast and nothing gets wasted!" Danny slammed his head down again.

"Well... I have something that might cheer you up," Tucker offered. Danny didn't respond. "You'll never believe who I saw last night!"

"Death?" Danny muttered hopefully.

"Ha, ha, close. I uh... I was talking to your father –"

"WHAT?!"

"Apparently he's a ghost now."

"How's that even possible?"

"I don't know, but it's true. A couple of band geeks told me about it, and I didn't believe them, so I went to see it myself, and it was him alright."

"What was he like?"

"Orange jump suit, talks all the time, insists we're on a first-name basis..."

"Yeah, that's dad. Where? What time?"

"Out by the castle gate at like one in the morning. He said he wanted to speak with you."

"I'll watch tonight. Do you think he'll come back?"

"From what I've heard, yes. Definitely."

"Alright... don't tell anyone about this."

"I wasn't going to. See you tonight then."

"Yeah, see you." Tucker left the room. "My father, a ghost?" Danny thought out loud. "This can't be good."


End file.
